What Happened Today
- Alexander Ardon Soriano or “Chande”, the government’s cooperating witness, confessed drug trafficker, and former mayor of El Paraíso, Copan, Honduras continued on the stand all day.
Key Details That Surfaced
- Ardon described his role in the drug trafficking conspiracy. He transported cocaine for ‘El Chapo’ Guzman and the Sinaloa cartel, and purchased cocaine from Tony Hernández to traffic into Guatemala.
- Trafficking for/with El Chapo Guzman and the Sinaloa cartel: Ardon first met with ‘El Chapo’ Guzman in 2007.
- Ardon was present in a 2010 meeting with ‘El Chapo’, JOH and others in Guatemala City to discuss security for El Chapo’s shipments. Ardon requested Tony Hernández’s help with securing these shipments. After this meeting, the relationship (Tony Hernandez designating security for shipments, selling cocaine to Ardon, and Ardon helping with transportation for Sinaloa cartel) grew.
- In 2013, El Chapo met with Ardon and other drug traffickers in El Espiritu, Copan. In that meeting, El Chapo offered to provide $1 million for JOH’s campaign. Tony said he would discuss it with JOH, and later confirmed to Ardon that JOH wanted the money. El Chapo would later provide hand the $1 million to Tony in another meeting in 2013 held on Ardon’s mother’s property.
- Introduction to drug traffickers and drug trafficking organizations: Ardon provided an important overview of the different drug traffickers and drug trafficking organizations that formed part of the conspiracy in which JOH is accused of being apart. Ardon described several meetings, alliances (getting together to kill enemies, traffic drugs, etc), and discussions between JOH’s brother Tony Hernández, JOH, former President Porfirio Lobo, Mexican drug trafficker ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, the Valle Valle brothers, Wilter Blanco, Mario Calix, Mauricio Hernandez Pineda “primo” , Ronaldo and Otto Salguero, Los Cachiros, his brother Hugo Ardon, ‘Don Armando’ amongst others. His multiple descriptions painted an extensive and complex relationship between Honduran politicians/drug traffickers and cartels that operated across borders and in unison dating as far back as 2005.
- Ardon provided one good example of how JOH was a central person in the conspiracy in Honduras and described some of the dynamics between JOH and his brother, Tony: Even though Tony Hernández frequently met with drug traffickers and coordinated political campaign donations for JOH, Ardon described how he told JOH that the Valle Valle brothers were threatening mayors and had murdered some (one?) in Copan. JOH said he would arrest the Valle Valles. Ardon asked JOH to not inform Tony Hernández out of fear of retaliation from the Valle Valles. Later, the Valle Valles were arrested in 2014 and extradited to the US. Later in a meeting in the Fondo Vial office in Tegucigalpa between Tony, JOH, Hugo Ardon, and Ardon, Tony Hernández told JOH that El Chapo was inquiring about why the Valle Valles had been extradited. JOH said it was because they tried to kill him. Tony then reminded him that El Chapo had provided $1 million for JOH’s campaign. When Tony said this, JOH got angry, responding that he had no obligation to anyone, and left the meeting.
- Ardon described how he explained to Tony Hernández in 2011 a problem he was having with a drug rival named Franklin Arita. Tony told Ardon that he would have Arita killed and would ask ‘El Tigre’ Bonilla, the then Chief of Police of Copan to kill him. Later, Bonilla was promoted to Chief of Police.
- Electoral fraud in 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017 with bribes, threats, and commitments to drug traffickers: Ardon provided many in-depth details about how drug traffickers and politicians, and in particular Juan Orlando Hernández won and maintained his political power through fraudulent elections, bribes with drug money, and conspiring with drug traffickers. For example:
- In 2005, Ardon bought votes and people working at the voting tables to win his first election as mayor in El Paraiso.
- Pepe Lobo, JOH, and Ardon met in the National Party headquarters in San Pedro Sula about the 2009 elections (prior to the 2009 coup). Ardon asked them for 3 things, 1) Protect him from being investigated, 2) Give his brother, Hugo Ardon a position in Fondo Vial (the state highway infrastructure institution), 3) Pave roads in the municipality in El Paraiso to facilitate drug trafficking and easier access for citizens. In exchange, Pepe Lobo asked Ardon for $2 million to support his and JOH’s campaigns. In addition, JOH asked Ardon to speak to the mayoral candidates and Congressional representatives in Copan to help him win the elections and secure the position as President of Congress. The agreements between them were all met.
- JOH asked Ardon not to run as a mayoral candidate in the 2013 elections because the media was talking about how the Ardon brothers were drug traffickers and that they financed JOH’s campaigns. Ardon agreed. JOH also said that he would put Arnaldo Urbina, a mayor from Yoro in prison if he ran in the 2013 elections as well.
- In 2017, JOH requested $500,000 from Ardon to assist in winning the elections in Gracias, Lempira. In exchange, JOH continued to protect Ardon, who was never arrested or charged in Honduras for drug trafficking.
- Ardon described his agreement as a cooperating witness including how he hopes a judge will give him ‘time served’ but that the government has not made any promises to him nor does testifying mean that he still may face a life sentence for his involvement in drug trafficking.
- Mel Zelaya’s son was briefly mentioned when JOH’s defense attorney, Raymond Colon was questioning Ardon in his cross-examination. Colon asked Ardon in the same line of questioning about the murder of Julian Aristides Gonzalez, the anti-narcotics drug czar in Honduras in December 2009, “were you present in a meeting with Mel Zelaya’s son?” Ardon responded “I do not recall.” Then one of the U.S. prosecutors got up to speak with Colon at the podium, as he had several times throughout the cross-examination to help Colon clarify information. After the 10-second or so private conversation, Colon continued questioning about a different topic.
- Ardon admitted to having conspired in the murders of Julián Aristides González, anti-narcotics czar, and Alfredo Landaverde, a former government advisor. Both were outspoken, key figures in denouncing drug trafficking in Honduras.
What Will Happen Tomorrow
- JOH’s defense attorney will continue to cross-examine Alexander Ardon. (Although defense attorney Colon spent over 2 hours asking Ardon about almost every murder he was involved in, without any clear indication of his objective).
- The prosecution will call additional witnesses.
